Update:
For the seed treatments in 2017, Acceleron and Trilex had the greatest emergence with a relative emergence of 108% and 105%, respectively. ILeVO had the poorest emergence at 95.7% relative emergence across all locations. Fluopyram, the active ingredient in ILeVO, is known to stunt plants and potentially decrease germination under some conditions.
There was no treatment effect observed on emergence in 2018. This may be accounted for by the overall later planting dates in 2018, due to weather, allowing for soil temperatures to increase, thus accelerating germination. There were no significant differences in average yield between treatments across all locations in 2017 & 2018.Overall yields were higher in 2017 than 2018, which is to be expected due to the later planting dates in 2018 as a result weather and field conditions.

There was a significant treatment effect at two locations in 2017 (Wye and UDREC) where fungicide seed treatments significantly decreased yield compared to the untreated control. At those locations, untreated controls yielded the highest and ILeVO the lowest. Due to the yield variability in 2018, there was no significant treatment effect on yield.

As part of an economic analysis, we calculated net profit for each treatment based on planting population (150,000 seeds/acre), local market price for soybean ($9.10), retail prices for seed ($50.95/bag of 140,000 seeds), seed treatment (Acceleron=$19.20/bag, Trilex=$5.50/bag, ILeVO=$15.00/bag) and production costs, including variable and fixed costs. Variable and fixed costs were calculated using the 2017 University of Maryland Crop Budget Calculator. A significant treatment effect on net profit per acre was found in 2017. Untreated soybean seed returned the highest average profit per acre ($368.31) across all locations, statistically greater than all other treatments (P=0.0002). Seed treatment ILeVO returned the lowest net income, with an average across all locations of $193.29 per acre.

2017 Summary
Data from first-year trials indicate that fungicide seed treatments may increase soybean emergence over untreated seed in low-pressure soilborne disease situations; however, this increase in emergence and stand did not translate into a statistically significant increase in yield when compare to untreated controls. Yields were also significantly lower in treated seed at two of the locations. In addition, fungicide seed treatments did not increase profitability; the added expense for treated seed coupled with no increase in yield resulted in an average loss of $136.50 per acre compared to untreated seed. Using fungicide seed treatments on soybeans may not provide any significant economic benefit when planted in fields that are not conducive for soilborne disease development and/or that do not have a history of soilborne diseases. This is only the first year of a multi-year study; more data needs to be collected over multiple years and sites to improve the robustness of the dataset and to make sound production recommendations for growers in our region.

2018 Summary
A wet spring delayed planting by several weeks and resulted in the UDREC trial location having to be pulled from the experiment. The later planting dates likely contributed to a more consistent plant emergence, which could be why we did not observe a treatment effect on emergence like we did in 2017. Prolonged wetness and rain in 2018 likely contributed to the variability in yield observed across plots. Overall lower yields in 2018 in comparison to 2017 are likely a combination of wet weather and later planting dates. The seed treatments tested in this study did not provide any agronomic benefits and would have been an additional expense incurred on production. Even in a record-breaking wet year, the seed treatments did not provide a benefit and demonstrates the fact that planting into proper field conditions (even if it means waiting several weeks) is important when trying to manage for seedling diseases. Based on this work, we would not recommend a fungicide seed treatment on soybean seed planted into fields that are not prone to soilborne/seedling diseases and should be saved for those acres planted early in the spring when soils are cool and wet, and/or for fields that are prone to wet soils or have a history of soilborne and seedling diseases. We also did not observe any “plant health” benefits as a result of using fungicide seed treatments.

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In 2017, fungicide seed treatment had a significant effect on relative emergence, but no effect on yield or test weight was observed. Acceleron and Trilex had the greatest emergence and ILeVO-treated seeds had the poorest emergence across all locations. Fluopyram, the active ingredient in ILeVO, is known to stunt plants and potentially decrease germination under some conditions. There was no treatment effect observed on emergence in 2018. This may be accounted for by the overall later planting dates in 2018, due to weather, allowing for soil temperatures to increase, thus accelerating germination. There were no significant differences in yield between treatments in 2018. Overall yields were higher in 2017 than 2018, which is to be expected due to the later planting dates in 2018 as a result weather and field conditions. There was a significant treatment effect at two locations in 2017 where fungicide seed treatments significantly decreased yield compared to the untreated control. At those locations, untreated seeds had the highest yield and ILeVO-treated seed had the lowest yield.

As part of an economic analysis, we calculated net profit for each treatment based on planting population, local market price for soybean, retail prices for seed, seed treatment and production costs, including variable and fixed costs. A significant treatment effect on net profit per acre was found in 2017. Untreated soybean seed returned the highest average profit per acre ($368.31) across all locations. Seed treatment ILeVO returned the lowest net income, with an average across all locations of $193.29 per acre.

Fungicide seed treatments may increase soybean emergence over untreated seed in low-pressure soilborne disease situations; however, this increase in emergence and stand did not translate into a significant increase in yield. Yields were also significantly lower in treated seed at two of the locations. In addition, fungicide seed treatments did not increase profitability; the added expense for treated seed coupled with no increase in yield resulted in an average loss of $136.50 per acre compared to untreated seed. A wet spring in 2018 delayed planting by several weeks. The later planting dates likely contributed to more consistent plant emergence, which could be why we did not observe a treatment effect on emergence like we did in 2017. Prolonged wetness and rain in 2018 likely contributed to variability in yield observed across plots. Overall lower yields in 2018 in comparison to 2017 are likely a combination of wet weather and later planting dates.

The seed treatments tested in this study did not provide any agronomic benefits and would have been an additional expense incurred on production. Even in a record-breaking wet year, the seed treatments did not provide a benefit and demonstrated that planting into proper field conditions (even if it means waiting several weeks) is important when trying to manage for seedling diseases. Based on this work, we would not recommend a fungicide seed treatment on soybean seed planted into fields that are not prone to soilborne/seedling diseases and should be saved for those acres planted early in the spring when soils are cool and wet, and/or for fields that are prone to wet soils or have a history of soilborne and seedling diseases. We also did not observe any “plant health” benefits as a result of using fungicide seed treatments.